YouTuber MKBHD's $50,000 deposit for a Roadster would now be worth over $1 million in Tesla shares, according to Carscoops.

      After years of waiting, Marquess Brownlee has finally received his deposit back, shedding light on the complicated refund process and what could have turned into a substantial amount of money.

      Tesla pledged to deliver the new Roadster in 2020, but it remains unreleased.

      MKBHD ultimately decided to cancel his $50K reservation for the Roadster after waiting eight years.

      Roadster depositors could have potentially earned 20 times more by investing in Tesla stock instead.

      It has been a lengthy eight years since Tesla announced the second-generation Roadster, yet the vehicle still exists only in renderings, prototypes, and Elon’s posts on Twitter, or rather, X. In 2017, Tesla convinced many to pay $5,000 for a reservation, followed by another $45,000 as a deposit, assured that production would commence in 2020.

      The Refund Process

      For years, many have quietly pondered how to cancel a Roadster reservation, questioning whether anyone at Tesla would actually answer the phone. Thanks to YouTuber Marquess Brownlee, widely recognized as MKBHD, we now have insight into the process, which, as expected, is somewhat chaotic. Nevertheless, reservation holders can reclaim their funds, albeit with some determination.

      Read: 8 Years Later, Tesla Continues to Accept $50K Roadster Reservations Musk Promised for 2020

      In a recent podcast discussion, Brownlee mentioned that he paid the $50,000 deposit for the next-generation Roadster when it was announced in late 2017. Upon deciding to cancel, he followed the necessary steps via the Tesla app and received a phone number; however, his call went directly to voicemail. Eventually, when he did speak with someone, they claimed they were unsure of how to cancel the order but reassured him they would find a way.

      Money In, Money Out

      Eventually, Tesla confirmed to Brownlee that he would receive a refund, but only for the $45,000 deposit, not the initial $5,000 reservation fee he had paid. About a week after sharing his experience, the YouTuber updated on X that Tesla had indeed refunded the $5,000 as well, possibly after recognizing that their own website states this amount is "fully refundable."

      The funds paid to Tesla by Brownlee and others who placed deposits on the Roadster may have been utilized to support the vehicle's development costs, among other models. Alternatively, the money might have just been sitting in an account accumulating interest over the past eight years.

      Interestingly, had Brownlee invested that $50,000 in Tesla stock in 2017, when shares were approximately $22 each, instead of reserving a product that hasn't materialized, he would be looking at over $1 million today, with shares priced at $454 as of October 1!